World's Finest Vol 1 71
Months later, a gang of crooks are salvaging something out of the ocean, their operation attracting the attention of Batman and Robin, who arrive in the Batplane. The crooks spot the two heroes and manage to escape with the item they sought out: A chunk of Green Kryptonite that was tossed into the ocean some time ago by Superman. In their escape they blast the Batplane, causing it to plummet towards Metropolis. At this time, Clark Kent has just changed into Superman and has spotted the disaster waiting to happen, and manages to save the Dynamic Duo and the Batplane from a deadly crash. However, in the process of saving them Clark accidentally reveals his secret identity to Lois Lane. Batman insists that they can put aside repairing the Batplane until they find a way to convince Lois Lane that she saw a hoax and protect Clark's secret identity. Batman comes up with a solution to the problem: confusing Lois Lane by making her think that Bruce Wayne is really Superman while they find some other way to throw her off. In order to work this scene the two heroes switch costumes and Superman goes off to catch the crooks that the Caped Crusaders were after before this all happened. Wearing the Batsuit, Superman uses his x-ray vision to find the location of the crooks and goes after them. Unaware that the crooks had recovered Kryptonite, Superman sneaks into a back window and is instantly knocked out by the deadly element. Meanwhile, Batman begins his plot to convince Lois Lane that Superman is really Bruce Wayne. Disguised as Superman he swoops down and picks her up just as she is about to enter the Daily Planet. "Superman" tells Lois that Clark Kent has been missing for a while and asks if she's seen him. She refuses to believe this ruse, but later when she spots "Superman" changing into Bruce Wayne, Lois asks him out to dinner in the park and Bruce agrees. Running to a phone booth, she asks the local zoo keeper to let his lions loose in the park while on their date so that she can confirm her suspicions. Unknown to Lois, Robin has been listening in on the whole conversation. Thus begins a series of tests by Lois to confirm that Bruce Wayne is really Superman, and Bruce manages to trick her around every corner. He manages to knock out the lions by knowing the commands the keeper would use to make them play dead. Later, noticing that Lois intends to cut his hair he breaks her scissors to make it appear as though his hair is indestructible. And, lastly when he agrees as "Superman" to carry her furniture to her new home uses a helium rig to make it look like he's flying away with the moving truck. This plot goes to pot when Lois, still suspicious watches the operation from binoculars and watches as "Superman" climbs down on an uncertain location and she decides to go investigate. Worried about Superman's progress, Batman goes to the crooks' hideout and overhears them talking about having Kryptonite and realizes why Clark has been missing the past few days. As he smashes in on the crooks and defeats them in combat, Lois Lane sneaks in through the back room and comes across the unconscious "Batman". Unaware of the Kryptonite in the room, Lois unmasks "Batman" to reveal he is Clark Kent. She surmises that Clark was posing as Batman for some story and got himself knocked out. When "Superman" enters the room, he quickly disposes of the Kryptonite and takes Clark to safety. When Clark revives, Batman tells him what's happened and they realize they have the perfect way to once more protect their secret identities. The real Superman picks up Lois and flies her back to the Daily Planet where she is shocked and confused to find both Bruce Wayne and Superman in the same room -- the only thing she is sure of is the fact that Superman has once more played a complicated trick on her. | Synopsis2 = | Synopsis3 = | Appearing1 = Featured Characters: * * Supporting Characters: * * Antagonists: * Shorty Locations: * * ** *** * ** Items: * * * Vehicles: * | Appearing2 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Antagonists: * Other Characters: * * Jungle Joe Meredith * Louie * Mousie Locations: * Items: * Vehicles: * | Appearing3 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Antagonists: * Other Characters: * Andrews * Thaddeus Steele Locations: * (18th Century) * Fort Union Items: * Vehicles: * | Notes = * The Batman/Superman story makes an introductory reference to the heroes' first encounter in . * Batman - Double for Superman! is reprinted in World's Finest Comics Archives, Volume 1. * This issue of World's Finest is considered by some comic indexers to be the first issue to regularly feature the Batman of Earth-One. Other indexers place the dividing line between Earth-Two and Earth-One elsewhere (for example, Mike Voiles of Mike's Amazing World places it between and ). The DC Comics Database has decided to go with the former group. * This issue of World's Finest is considered by most comic indexers to be the first issue to regularly feature the Superman of Earth-One. * This issue begins the shift from solo stories of Batman and Superman to their long running team-up being the lead feature. | Trivia = * This issue also marks the first time in which the Batrope is officially given its name. Prior to this issue, it was only known as "silken cord" or "traveling cord". | Recommended = | Links = }}